


special skill.

by D3moira



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hide and Seek, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 06:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6942931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/D3moira/pseuds/D3moira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone is good at something, except for Anna.</p>
            </blockquote>





	special skill.

As one gets older, they learn that everyone has their special skills. Those skills offer them a very unfair advantage in specific areas. In a similar vein, there are some games you shouldn’t agree to, for you’ll never win them. Anna knew you shouldn’t have a staring contest with Olaf, or a snowball fight with Elsa.

Anna just as quickly learned that Sven was could eat carrots the fastest, and that her special skills were – well – still being discovered. She was very quick and light on her feet, and she could sing and dance, but none of that ever won her any games.  The point was, _everyone_ had their game of choice, and as Anna quickly discovered, Kristoff’s was hide and seek.

“I’m bored.”

“Okay.”

“No, you’re _supposed_ to offer to entertain me.” Anna shot Kristoff the  _look_. The look that said, _don’t you know how this works by now?_  Which truthfully, he should. Wednesday afternoons were their time together, and he was currently laying on the plush couch by her window. It was nice to be around one another, sure, but they had always spent their time cuddling and kissing and all that nice stuff and now – 

“But I’m tired.”

“Of being boring?”

“Of you.” Kristoff sat up, groaning softly. “I didn’t mean that.”

“I’m sure you didn’t.” Anna sniffed loudly, a hand clasped at her mouth. “If that’s how you really feel… I’ll just…” And up she got from the edge of her bed, where she had been trying to untangle a ball of decorative ribbons. How they’d gotten knotted – who knew?

The princess was out the door and down the hall, hollering dramatic cues for Kristoff to follow. Once sure she had thrown her voice down one hallway, she turned and went the other direction. She crept as quickly and quietly as she could manage, stifling her laughter with great conviction. One thing she _knew_ about him was how well he tracked. But she had intentionally thrown him off, something she had thought up that morning.

Hide and seek was always a fun way to get Kristoff to stop moping about work and ice. Not that Anna minded him worrying over work, for it was his passion. It just made him grumpy, which in turn made for no fun on her end. A rosy blush rose in her cheeks as she lingered on past memories, of hands and lips and eyes and – _be cool, Anna. This is your day to win._

When she arrived at her (very secret) cupboard to hide in, she opened the door to see… Kristoff.

“Um?”

“You _always_ go here.”

“I do not!”

“You do. If it’s a Thursday you go down towards the kitchens, closer to the outer exit, seeing as the smell of the pastries draws you in. I knew you were _here,_ because Wednesdays, you have to avoid the maid going through the guest rooms, otherwise she tells Elsa. Mm-also, you kicked up a carpet back there.” Kristoff smiled down at the redhaired girl, yawning lazily. “Are we done? I really just wanna lay down and nap. Work was… _hey_.”

No way was Anna gonna be beaten that easily. She darted down the hallway, skidding in her fine flats. She kicked them off so as to improve her ability to run. Every week, for about a month, she had taken to running away from Kristoff. It had become an unofficial match of hide and seek, whether he wanted to find her or not. He hated being in the castle without her, so he usually dragged himself after her… But Anna wanted to be a challenge for once. No more ‘oh I knew you’d be here’ business.

The study on the fourth floor – Kristoff.

“But how?”

“Vase.”

The door slammed.

The broom cupboard on the second floor.

“Kristoff.”

“You’d be out of breath and looking for an easy place to hide.”

A hiss of frustration.

“Also Elsa has some guys in the ah, fancy silk type shirts in the library, so don’t go there.”

Anna turned on her heel, trying to pretend she hadn’t been going for the library. This wasn’t fair. How did he know? Anna stood in the middle of the hallway, all flyaway hairs and bare feet. Was she predictable, or was he just that clever? She didn’t have a game she was good at, and she couldn’t beat Elsa at snowball fights, or Olaf at staring contests, or Sven at carrot eating contests.

“You okay, fiestypants?”

“Fine!”

Kristoff’s smile faltered as he leaned out of the broom cupboard he’d been leaning against. “Ah, c'mon, it’s not so bad. You’re a good hider.”

“I’m _fine_.” Anna repeated, feeling all the more stupid for being upset over a kids game. She had always been the best at hide and seek with the portraits as a kid. She had thought, with all her practice, she would be good at least one game. But she was terrible at all of them, so much so that Kristoff could guess where she would hide even before she had hidden.

Maybe the years of solitude, of being raised nearly alone, had made it impossible for her to play even the simplest of games. She had missed a lot, with her parents so busy, and Elsa hidden away. She hadn’t learned to play charades or tag or even hide and seek. Not with real people, who could run away or chase her.

“Sorry, I know you wanted to nap, I’m being – I’m sorry.” She offered up a weak smile, arms crossed over her chest.

“Nah, I’m not even that tired.” The yawn failed to sell his point. Kristoff reached out to her, drawing her into a hug. “Hey, at least you know I’ll always find you, right? You ever get lost in the forest, or in town, I’ll pop up and… I mean, only if you want me to, I wouldn’t just _pop_ , be there, 'cause, well… You need space, I need space, that’s a bit – ”

“I get it.” Anna wrinkled her nose up at him, eyes narrowed. Her skeptical look broke for something sweeter as she leaned up to kiss him on the chin. The pair remained standing, grinning at one another.

So Anna didn’t have any games she was especially good at. That was okay. If she got to help others feel better, and feel good about themselves, she’d play whatever games she had to.

Maybe her special skill was making others feel better.

That was a pretty important skill.


End file.
